When wrought iron chains replaced hemp ropes in collieries to raise and lower men and materials, it was obvious that if the chain failed, lives would be lost. The other problem with chain was that it did not sit evenly on the winding drum, so Joseph Reynolds, a mine manager of Ketley, offered a prize of 50 pounds to anyone who could devise a better method of using chain.
Benjamin Edge had been making chain in Coalport since around 1800 and he was aware of earlier experiments in using chain for winding purposes. He came up with the idea of making chain from rectangular iron and putting three lengths in parallel. The links were alternately long and short, and oblong in shape. He fitted a plank of wood through the long links.
This formed a belt of chain that would still function even if one length of chain failed. One end was fixed to the cage, the other to the drum and was called “rattle chain” because of the noise it made when winding. Rattle chain was in use up to the early part of the 20th century, when it was replaced with wire rope.
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| Reference: | 672 |
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| Updated: | Wed 5 Mar 2008 - 14 |
| Interpretation written by | Louis Howe |
| Author's organisation | Curatorial |
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